Putin Discusses Ukraine Crisis with New President

Russian President Vladimir Putin held phone talks Thursday with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko on Kiev's plans for defusing the crisis in the separatist east.

"Ukraine's president notified Vladimir Putin of his plan to settle the situation in Ukraine's southeast," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

"On top of that, the presidents discussed issues related to the development of bilateral ties," Peskov said.

Poroshenko's office said the two leaders held "substantial and lengthy" talks in which they discussed steps needed to "settle the situation through peaceful means".

Putin and Poroshenko met on the sidelines of the D-Day anniversary ceremonies in Normandy last week, their first meeting since pro-Western Poroshenko was elected to the top post on May 25.

Poroshenko's Kremlin-backed predecessor Viktor Yanukovych was ousted as a result of a popular uprising in February after he abruptly refused to sign key political and trade agreements with the EU under pressure from Moscow.